Hold test,pay fine

Private schools will no longer be able to hold screening tests,either written or verbal,for admission to nursery and Class I.

Hold test,pay fine

Private schools will no longer be able to hold screening tests,either written or verbal,for admission to nursery and Class I. The HRD department has put in place a provision of a fine of Rs 25,000 for a first violation and one of Rs 50,000 for subsequent ones. Private schools have been directed not to charge capitation fees either; if they do,the fine will be 10 times what they had charged. The department has also asked private schools to reserve 25 per cent seats for the poor and 50 per cent for girls. School authorities have,however,said they are not bound to comply with the reservation rule,calling it sub judice.

No declaration,no pay

Government employees (excluding grade-IV) who dont declare their assets before February 28 will have that months salary withheld,a general administration department (GAD) circular has warned. The Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues have already declared their assets. Other moves to tackle corruption include scrapping of the MLA local area fund (Rs 1 crore each annually) and the Bihar Special Courts Act for speedy trial of public servants facing corruption charges. The Act provides for setting up a school in a building seized from someone guilty of corruption; the Chief Minister says he is waiting for the day the first such school comes up.

Need opposition: Nitish

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After his landmark election victory,Chief Minister Nitish Kumar says any challenge from a weak Opposition is less of a burden than the publics expectations of his government. Though the RJD got only 22 seats,less than 10 per cent of the total,he insisted on having an Opposition leader. Rather than target his main political rival Lalu Prasad after the historic win,he has welcomed RJD leader AB Siddiquis elevation as Leader of the Opposition. His rivals Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan,however,have cautioned him against euphoria and asked him to fulfil his election promises,such as a 10 per cent job reservation for the poor among the upper castes.

rebel defiant as ever

Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha has dared his party,the JD(U),to probe his assets after some party workers demanded this. Kushwaha has been upset ever since the party ignored his advice on the distribution of election tickets. The state disciplinary committee had wanted him to appear and explain his defiance,but Kushwaha said that as an MP he would appear only before party chief Sharad Yadav or Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. State party president Vasistha Narayan Singh has been insisting on uniform rules for all party rebels,while Nitish Kumar has been silent on Kushwaha,which has not helped the rebel leaders cause.